Wild Animals as Pets.

I heard a story recently on the news about a couple who had a chimpanzee for a pet for a long time. The husband was recently severely hurt by some Chimpanzees in an Animal Santuary. The couple made the chimp they named Moe a member of their family. The woman was unable to have children so the Moe became like their child. They had the Moe living with them for about thirty years. The husband found the Moe as an infant in Africa after his mother had been killed by poachers. The couple became very attached to Moe and he to them over the years.
The thing is that as Chimpanzees get older they can change in demeanor. That is what happened to Moe. He got in trouble in his hometown by biting a police officer and then a woman. The county ended up removing Moe from the couples custody and he eventually ended up in the Animal Santuary near the couple after three years of court battles. What a blow for the couple and for Moe. The couple tried to make the best of it by visiting Moe when they could and this was good for Moe as well.
The couple visited Moe on his birthday and brought him treats and presents to celebrate. Apparently some Chimps in another cage escaped from their cages, didn't like Moe getting this kind of attention and attacked the couple. The woman was attacked briefly and lost her finger. The husband was severly hurt by two large male Chimps and is still in the hospital. The article located at ABC.com gives all the specifics of what happened from that point on. To access the article: http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Science/story?id=691497&page=1
At the time, nearly forty years ago, when the husband adopted and brought home the Chimp there were few laws regarding wild animals as pets. Now the laws are much more strict on the subject. The reason I am writing about this is to bring attention to this issue. I think we can become just as attached to wild animals as domestic animals but wild animals are much more unpredictable. Moe was not the one who hurt his "parents" but because he hurt other people he ended up losing the only home he had ever known. The couple who adopted him suffered a severe loss as well. The attachment went very deep between them and to this day Moe does not understand what happened and is depressed in the Animal Santuary. The wife is having a hard time dealing with her husbands devastating injuries and the whole situation is sad. In my opinion keeping a wild animal as a pet is something to be carefully considered. Caution is prudent before deciding on adopting and bringing a wild animal into your home. What do think?

Donna